Huntington Beach boys’ soccer beats the whistle, Newport Harbor to take Wave League lead
It took nearly 180 minutes for a goal to be scored in the season series between the Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor high school boys’ soccer teams.
With that kind of buildup, the celebration was electric when Grant James ended the deadlock, sending the visiting Oilers to a 1-0 win over the Sailors on Friday in a Wave League match at Davidson Field.
Late in regulation, Teddy Melitas drew a foul 30 yards from goal. The senior midfielder then served in a cross toward the back post, finding — as the Oilers so often have — the head of Reid Fisher.
The San Diego State commit redirected the cross down and across the face of goal, where the ball came to James, who was able to put his second shot attempt by Newport Harbor goalkeeper Jeff Olsen (seven saves).
“I’ve got to give credit to my other center back Reid,” James said. “He flicked it in with his head, fell right to me, and then it kind of took a bounce. I guess I just kind of slid and got it in, but man, it felt really good. The bench was talking, their fans were talking the whole time, and it was just the perfect moment — two minutes left — it just felt awesome.”
James and the rest of the Oilers sprinted toward their sideline, where they were met by supporters cascading down from the visiting side of the stands. The raucous celebration following the 79th minute goal resulted in a yellow card for Huntington Beach coach Sean Dick.
“I love how connected we are as a program because it shows that no matter what level you are, we’re still all brothers,” senior forward Carson Dykes said. “Even though it got Coach Sean a card, it’s a memory that I won’t forget.”
The result held up, positioning Huntington Beach (12-2-5, 3-0-1 in the Wave League) to win the Wave League championship. Newport Harbor (7-4-4, 2-1-1) is in second place.
After a 3-0 start in league play last season, the league crown slipped away from the Oilers with losses to Laguna Beach and Newport Harbor in the second half. Newport Harbor earned a 1-0 win at Huntington Beach in the league finale to take the title.
The Oilers now control their own destiny with two matches remaining — at Marina (4-12-2, 2-2) on Monday and against Laguna Beach (4-10, 0-4) at home on Thursday.
“Nothing’s set in stone yet,” Dick said. “We still got to beat Marina. We still got to beat Laguna, so we’re going to Marina. It’s one half at a time. That’s the way I always take it here. Get to the end of the Laguna game, if I win that game, I’ll be happy.”
Both teams had opportunities to push goals across well in advance of the final moments. In the 32nd minute, Kalani Delarole touched a ball through to Tyler Kakimoto. He chipped a shot past a charging Olsen, but Jason Hernandez made a sliding clearance for the Sailors.
Five minutes later, Alessandro Sanhueza struck the crossbar of the football uprights just beyond the Huntington Beach goal.
Newport Harbor’s back line of John Brandon Woods, Miles Frainie, James Evans and Hernandez kept Huntington Beach off the board until a set piece — and no small amount of guts needed for glory — led to the Oilers’ goal. With James and Fisher combining on the decisive sequence, the Oilers had both of their center backs near the offensive goal line, leaving themselves prone to a counterattack.
“We coach our guys, or at least I would talk to a lot of them,” Fisher said. “You got to make sure that we hustle back, so I usually got someone fast back there, and then obviously me and Grant are just sprinting back as soon as we see the ball doesn’t either go in or for a corner.”
Goalkeeper Daniel Kotkosky stopped two shots for Huntington Beach.
Over the past two seasons, Huntington Beach has gone 2-1-1 against Newport Harbor, those four contests producing a total of three goals.
“I thought we played great,” Newport Harbor coach Ignacio Cid said. “We eliminated a lot of parts of their game, and it came down to a free kick, and that’s usually how it goes when both teams want to play hard.”
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